"That's right," the fox said. "For me you're only a little boy just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you have no need of me, either. For you I'm only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, we'll need each other. You'll be the only boy in the world for me. I'll be the only fox in the world for you..."
--The Little Prince

Thursday, June 30, 2011

KGB Recycling


You know, when I was living in Russia I thought it was probably the most communist-reminisant place I'd ever call home...well, that was true until I moved to Belgium.

Specifically today I am talking about the KBG enforced, mandatory recylcing. They MAKE you recylce here. Ugh. Yuck. Nothing against recycling, but please stay out of my trash. I'll save the planet if I want to. Here's how they do it: The garbage men will only collect trash that is placed in special bags; four colors: blue, yellow, white and red, for each kind of recycling. Well, you have to buy them from the store and they are massively expensive. As in, more than $1 per bag!!! They charge you up the wazoo to throw trash away, and if you don't put things in the right bag they will stick a big red "rejected" sticker on the bag and just leave it on your curb. They actually go through your trash to make sure you are recycling. Kill me now. I'm ready to buy a shot gun and a plot of land and just move to Wyoming. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a planet-hater or anything like that, but I prefer to be inspired and motivated to recycle rather than absolutely forced. 4 Different kids of bags, and 6 different types of glass that MUST be separated or they won't touch it. Not even at $1 per small bag. Not even inspite of the nearly 55% in income tax that people here pay for these benefits.

So, the next time you're in Belgium remember to shred everything remotely associated to yourself and recycle meticulously because the government WILL be going through your trash.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The Only Place I'd Rather Be...




My life is just too good for words. Living for free in Belgium, just got back from England and Spain with plans to visit 8 more countries before I go home... so what could be better than this???

The hot tub at my mom's with all the grandkids. I'd trade places in a heart beat!

Inspiration

Bad Day Better


Today was not the best day in the world, but then everything turned around...I went to the army garrison and bought a real can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup. It was a tender mercy moment worthy of a general conference address.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Bad Spanish Fashion

 
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#29 SPAIN

 


Friday I took work off and flew to Madrid to meet up with a few friends from BYU. My Ryan Air flight was only $70 (round trip with taxes). We all met up in Madrid and had a fabulous time.

Highlights:
The Prado Museum (lots of Goya & El Greco)
Authentic Tacos al Pastor
Les Miserables (en espanol)
Sunny, 90 degree weather
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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Crying with Cats

 



I decided to stay in tonight, by myself, and watch a chick flick. One of the best (and most depressing) girl films out there is "Becoming Jane"--the true story of Jane Austin and her short and tragic love life. In short, she fell in love, but because of the culture an the time was unable to marry the man she loved, and she remained unmarried for the rest of her life. Her love eventually married and named his first child Jane.

Anyway, so I'm sitting on my couch just as the film starts to get horribly sad. I start to cry and say out loud, "Why am I watching this?" Then I look to my left, and both of my cats are sitting right next to me on the couch arms just staring at me. Then I cry even harder...because I realize that now I am that woman home alone watching chick flicks with her cats. Sob.
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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

My name is Debbie, and I love cats.

Guilty Pleasure

 


I wasn't planning on buying all seven books of the Harry Potter series... but there they were... the original Brittish versions with different art work, spellings, etc. I'm sold. My new goal is to read all 7 books before the final movie comes out in 29 days.
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Dirty Dancing

 



Life changing. Only $35.
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Stonehenge

 



This picture does not do justice to the misery of the weather. Pouring rain, sideways, violent wind and freezing temps. I spent 10 min running around the rocks and $20 on hot chocolate and a pair of socks I'll never wear again.
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London- #28


This past weekend I visited my 28th country--England. I have now officially been to more countries than the years I am old. I hope this will continue for the rest of my life. I took my backpack to work with me and left early to catch the Eurostar to London. It took less than 2 hours to get there, including about 20 minutes in the tunnel under the Chanel.

I met up with my BFF Scotty who is there on a BYU study abroad. We toured the city, saw fabulous shows and had great food.

Shows:
Billy Elliot
Jersey Boys
Much Ado About Nothing
Dirty Dancing

Best Food:
Pork, apple, stuffing sandwich at Borough Market
Shepherd's Pie at Slug & Lettuce
Chocolate-covered honeycomb
Real Diet Coke
Real Milk

Monday, June 6, 2011

I Love My Cats

 



10 minutes after I changed the litter box and lysol wiped the bathroom down.
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I can't live without...

 



My co-worker offered to pick me up some American products at the army base this weekend. What did I choose? Only the things I can't live without.
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